Nico was sat on the seat closest to the window, so he could watch the passing countryside scenery. Will, after he finished moving their cases onto the racks above their heads, slid into the vacant space next to him, lacing their fingers together and squeezed his hand gently.

Hazel was facing them with her nose buried into the hard copy of  'Hogwarts: A History', a book she had already read twice but was so fascinated by the tales she couldn't help but pick it up again. Nico rolled his eyes at the idiotic name of the school, he still couldn't believe that people decided to name a school, that would educate their future generations, after a pigs disease. It almost didn't seem real.

Will turned to the silent Nico "Hey." He nudged his side and rested his head on Nico's shoulder, grinning up at him.

"Yes?" Nico sighed, reluctantly tearing his eyes from the scenery, expecting Will to want to talk for the rest of the journey. The cheerful son of Apollo wasn't the sort of person to just sit there without a word.

"You don't look excited, do you not realize what we're about to do Neeks? We're going to another civilization hidden from mortals for hundreds of years- Oh, hello there!" He was cut off by the carriage door sliding open. It had been moved by a bushy brown haired girl that, like the demigods, was already dressed in her school robes.

Behind her stood a tall ginger boy with more freckles scattered over his face that any human could count. Next to the ginger boy was also a messy black haired teenager, similar height to his friend, with round wire-rimmed glasses perched on his nose in front of his emerald green eyes.

Nico and Hazel recognized them from a newspaper clipping from the hours of previous research. Will had remained oblivious to who they were, maybe because he had taken quite a few naps during their lengthy study sessions. He would never admit that though and let Nico have the satisfaction of knowing that he was indeed solar powered.

"Hello," Hermione was taken aback by the cheerful welcome along with the lack of recognition in the blonds eyes. The last compartments they checked they had been told to 'scram' or the people inside had started to flirt with Harry "Can we join you? It's just that every other carriage is full" Well, she corrected herself in her head, apart from the one with the sleeping adult that they hadn't wanted to disturb.

Will turned to look at the others and, when they answered with shrugs, said "Of course!" Hermione gave him a grateful smile, deciding she'd rather sit next to him, leaving Harry and Ron to awkwardly shuffle next to Hazel.

"I'm Will, this is Nico and that's Hazel." He nodded to his friends upon mentioning their names before giving Hermione a look that politely asked her to introduce herself.

She hadn't expected that, seeing as her friendship with Harry had made her name generally known by most wizards. If anything it was refreshing to find someone who was wanted to know them, not for their reputation but instead because they're human beings.

"Seriously, Will? Do you sleep every time we talk?" Hazel closed her book, placing it on her lap as the conversation at hand was becoming much more enjoyable than whatever tale that the pages contained.

"Maybe?" He looked down in embarrassment,  he was supposed to be the mature and responsible one out of the three of them. That feeling left when he finally recognized the kid in the glasses from a picture of his parents found in a textbook "Wait, you're that Potter kid! Harry, right?"

Harry nodded "Yeah, that's Hermione and Ron." He introduced the other two thirds of the golden trio to save Will from having to awkwardly rack his brain for their names. Good thing he did, Will had guessed their names were Herman and Robin.

"None of us really pay attention to the news around here," Nico piped up, making Ron jump at the unexpected voice. He grinned at his shocked face and continued "We're from America."

"Why are you coming to Hogwarts if you're from America?" Harry asked, suspicion evident in his tone.

"We're the exchange students," Nico decided to ignore the wild accusations that Harry was undoubtedly thinking in the back of his tiny mind "If I'm correct then we will be joining the third years for a couple of terms." He knew that it was the Golden Trio's third year but he thought it might seem odd to tell them so. They might get some stalker vibes from him that would make their quest so much harder.

"That's our year! What houses do you think you'll be in?" Hermione grinned and seemed eager to start up a conversation.

"The Headmaster already met up with us a month ago and put us in Gryffindor." Hazel lied smoothly, not letting Nico or Will respond, since her brother wasn't exactly known for his improvising skills among the campers.

While it was true they were in Gryffindor, they had never met or even contacted Dumbledore. Hecate had simply placed them there herself, forcing the Headmaster to agree with the powerful deity. She said something about them being too brave for any of the houses there and that Gryffindor would have to make do for the time being.

"Us too!" Hermione did everything but jump out of out of her seat in excitement. 

Jealousy started to form in the depths of Ron's stomach, that was until he noticed that Will and Nico were holding hands. Sure friends could hold hands but Ron recognized the glances Will was sending the dark haired boy as more. There was nothing for him to worry about, though he wasn't sure why he was worried in the first place.

Even if he hadn't realized they were boyfriends, he wouldn't of been able to react in anyway due to the entire train starting to alarmingly shake side to side, the lights flickering until the power completely cut out and plunging all carriages into darkness.

The moment things had kicked off the demigods had leaped onto their feet, ready to fight if it came to it, hands hesitating over their concealed weapons. Hazel took out of her wand, muttered 'lumos' to illuminate the carriage seeing as she was the logical one and the boys began to feel stupid for not thinking to do the same.

Nico froze, Will could feel the hand in his tighten its grip protectively and became alert for a threat . Nico recognized the feeling of haunting terror sweeping over him but he thought there was no possible way they could be there. They were supposed to be far away, working in the fields of punishment apart from the few leased by his father to Azkaban

"Dementors." His voice was barely above a whisper but it echoed in the fearful silence. Hazel and Ron were the only ones to react appropriately with a sharp intake of breath while the rest were perplexed to what Nico meant.

The door creaked as it slid open allowing a hooded ghost-like creature to glide into the room, instantly lowering the mood dramatically. Harry shuddered, his eyes closing involuntarily as his mind was overcome with horrors, deafened by constant screams.

His body fell towards the floor but Wills protective instincts made him spring into action, catching Harry before he could hit the carpet and get hurt. Nico took a step forward, partially satisfied as the Dementor flinched when it identified his powerful aura, and gave it his darkest deadliest glare.

"Leave." He growled in a low and menacing tone, only grinning when the monster fled from the compartment in terror, possibly fearing its own existence. He slammed the door after it since the thing didn't have enough manners to close it after itself.

He turned to see his boyfriend lifting Harry back onto the seats, feet up so he was partially laying down but with his back propped up, then reaching for his chocolate stash in his pocket. He placed one by the unconscious boys side, handed one to everyone else and ripped a wrapper off one to eat the five squares inside. After a few seconds of tense waiting, Harry's eyelids twitched and moments later opened once more.

"W-What happened? Who screamed?" His eyes were full of bewilderment at the concerned looks almost everyone was giving him and the expressionless face that belonged to Nico who stood while the rest were either sitting or kneeling by him on the floor.

"No one screamed, Harry, it was all in your head. It's just what those things do." Nico frowned at the door, so far the school year was going not at all according to their plan. It was all supposed to be an easy job that would be done within at the most two months.

"Why did it run away like that, it was almost like it got scared of something," Hermione thought out loud, not spotting the knowing glances the 'exchange students' gave each other, and internally vowed to look into that Nico kid. He was setting off alarm bells in her head and there was something unusual about him she couldn't quite pin down "Hey, you know we never got your last names" She spoke, attempting to make it appear as casual as possible.

"Oh, mine's Solace, Hazels is a Levesque and Nico's a Di Angelo" Will shrugged, not bothering to question why she asked and acted as if he had expected her to ask as such. 

He didn't think they'd be recognised at the school of witchcraft and wizardry as Hecate had distanced her realm from all other Demigods. In fact, he was almost certain they were the first children of the Greek gods to step foot into Hogwarts.

Hermione tuned out of the conversation after that, following the others on auto pilot. 'Di Angelo'. Where had Hermione heard that name before? She would have to drag the other two to research into that family, maybe they were in league with something darker than they could possibly imagine. 

Rest assured, there was no way that the smartest witch in the third year wouldn't find out.

A/N

[PUBLISHED 21/06/2019]

Hello again!

Not much to add apart from the art work at the top is mine, was actually drawn the same day of this chapter being published and replaced some old art that will not be disclosed because I no longer have that style. And, looking back after a few months, it was pretty bad and lopsided.

Also, I'm sticking to my uploading schedule of fridays! Yay for me, normally I am a little late to projects. Then again, I doubt I'll be able to stick to this 100%.

I'll see you all next friday!